Some Birthday
by Angelic Temptress
Summary: It's Helena's Birthday. She and Q are celebrating and someone shows up. H/Q, Nightwing


Dinner had gone very well. Helena didn't know where Vic had gotten the money to pay the bill for the classy, Italian restaurant and wouldn't ask him. It had been his birthday present to her, and she knew he wouldn't appreciate if she did.

"So, you liked the food?" he questioned when they stopped before the door of her Gotham apartment. "I know it's not the authentic cuisine you probably ate in Italy when you were younger, although I did investigate the chef who claimed that he had found the secret ingredient –"

"Vic."

"Right. That's a long story. Next year, I'll try and book a flight to Rome. This way, you'll have the real thing." He smiled.

Helena reciprocated the smile. _Next year? He wants to be around next year?_ "That's nice, baby-doll, but you have friends who could transport you there for free." She adjusted the fedora atop his red head of hair and kissed his neatly-shaven chin.

"Did I tell you that crimson dress of yours appears a bit too tight for comfort?" he whispered with a chuckle as he took the keys from her hand. She had her back to the apartment door, forcing Vic to snake his arm around her torso and to the knob. She noted that he made sure to give her little breathing room.

Her smile grew. "My comfort or yours?" she questioned and playfully tugged on the waist of his pants.

Vic gently pushed her through the entrance, tossed the keys aside, and shut the door behind him. He continued to guide her inside, forcing Helena to walk backwards and keeping his lips an inch away from hers. Vic lifted Helena, seating her on the back of the couch, and positioned his body in front of her.

"Well, birthday sex would solve our discomfort." Vic slowly began to lean in.

She cocked an eyebrow. "What makes birthday sex any different or better than the great sex we've been having?"

"Great?" He stopped moving. "Really?"

She huffed and tugged on his tie to pull him closer. With her mouth nearly on top of his, she whispered, "Don't let it get to your head, Sage."

He enveloped her mouth with his own, savagely taking kisses from her as his hands slowly ran up her thighs.

Vic suddenly halted. He took a step back, his eyes focused on something behind Helena.

"What's wrong?" she demanded as she hopped off the couch. She whirled around to see an unwelcome figure standing beside the television.

"I'm guessing this is a bad time," the intruder muttered but didn't move from his place beside the widow.

Although she wished she had her crossbow handy, Helena resisted throwing punches. She straightened her dress instead, hoping he hadn't caught a glimpse of her underwear.

"Yeah, it is bad timing." She turned to Vic. "I'm sorry. Could you wait for me in the bedroom? Let me kick him out."

Vic was no fool. He knew there was nothing left of her relationship with this vigilante. Still, he didn't look too pleased with the request. Even with smeared lipstick on his mouth, he didn't look any less angry or any less intimidating. Helena knew he had decided to stay long before she asked him to leave.

She chose not to dwell on the topic and moved her attention to the trespasser. "What the hell are you doing here, Dick?"

"I don't really know," Nightwing muttered.

"Yes, you damn well do. Did you think I'd be alone?" Helena crossed her arms across her chest and glared.

"No, I –"

"Don't lie. You're more like Batman than you care to admit. You've been checking up on me for a while now. I saw you watching me in Blüdhaven."

"You were in my city, Helena."

"That's beside the point. You were still keeping an eye on me, which never was your responsibility to begin with."

"I know." He waited a moment before adding. "I guess I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I'm sorry I disturbed you." Nightwing turned and jumped out the window.

Helena didn't stop gritting her teeth. She mumbled, "I really do hate the bat-clan."

Vic shrugged. "It's a shame Batman has influenced him so much," Vic admitted. "I'm sure he's a descent fellow who simply needs to brush up on his manners." Vic removed his fedora and tossed it onto the desk. "Go on. Go after him. Besides, his visit really isn't about you, Helena."

Her forehead wrinkled. "And how do you know that?" She stared at him for a good couple of seconds before her mouth dropped with realization. "You've been watching him, haven't you?"

"I won't answer that, for it may be incriminating."

"You are a strange, voyeuristic man."

"Perhaps." Vic smiled. "He needs to talk with you, and it's urgent."

She began to leave the room, but stopped. "Is it wrong that I'm pissed you're not ridiculously jealous right now?" she asked.

"I'll admit that I am a little jealous. He's a young, good-looking, acrobat with big, honest, blue eyes."

Helena chuckled. "Do you want me to bring him back here and leave you two alone?"

"Ha. Ha." Vic sat down on the couch and put his feet up onto the coffee table. "I'll be fine here. I'll see what's on the tube."

"And ardently anticipate my return?" She leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

+++

"You know, you can't just break into my apartment whenever you feel like it." Huntress walked across the rooftop, stopping beside Nightwing. She could smell the scent of spring in the city. Winter was ending early this year. She could feel it in her bones.

"I'm just a little frazzled. I haven't been sleeping." His posture wasn't his usual, and his exposed skin seemed pale. Nightwing stood as if all the confidence had been drained from his veins.

He simply looked both weary and weak.

The Huntress sat on the ledge of the roof, facing Nightwing. She leaned back onto her hands and crossed her legs.

"Aren't you supposed to be celebrating your birthday?"

"I gathered that you are either in major trouble or just troubled. How else could one explain your rude intrusion?" She clarified after he sent her a confused look. "You snuck into my apartment, again, but you didn't have a real reason."

"She's back in my life."

Huntress narrowed her eyes. "Who's back?"

"Barbara."

"That is interesting." She began to bounce her foot. "I didn't know she ever left."

"You know what I mean." When Huntress didn't respond, Nightwing explained, "She and I have been seeing each other... not publicly but…"

"In the Biblical sense?" Huntress laughed quietly. "So, she's tired of boning the Bat?"

"No. It's not like that at all."

"Well, if everything is just peachy, why did you barge into my place and blame it on the fact that you're frazzled?" she challenged. "Something is obviously eating at you, and you feel that you can't confess your feelings to one of your buds in the League."

Nightwing sat down beside her, resting his elbows on his knees. "He doesn't want her the way that she wants him."

"Who dumped whom?"

"I think Barbara technically walked out on him and anything vigilante-related, but I know that he drove her to it."

"Let me guess. Was it his cold exterior, his stubbornness, or his obsession for Catwoman that she had a problem with?" Huntress paused and answered her own smart question. "Letter 'D,' all of the above."

"Months before she left him, she and I had been patrolling. It was raining. She was hurt. One thing led to another, and we –"

Huntress groaned. "Please spare me the details of your shacking up with Batgirl. I had a fantastic Italian dinner tonight that I would much rather not taste twice."

He sighed. "I took her back."

"Why?"

"I love her. Always have." He turned to look at Huntress. "She's my weakness. I like to think that I don't have too many, but she's definitely one of my fatal flaws." Nightwing stood again and turned to face downtown Gotham. "She'll never love me like I love her, and I think a part of me is willing to accept that."

"How can you just accept it?" Huntress shook her head. "You don't hold a grudge like I do, and that either makes you a far better or far stupider person than I am, but I just don't get it. How can you be okay with what they did to you?"

"I forgave her a long time ago. I may have forgiven them both." Nightwing suddenly touched his earpiece and said, "On my way." He offered her a grin. "Thanks for talking with me."

"Sure."

"You're a good person. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He leapt off the rooftop. She didn't bother to watch him leave or guess where he was headed. Instead, she moved her attention to the crates stacked beside the roof entrance.

"You can come out now, Q."

Sure enough, the Question emerged from behind the wooden crates. He shrugged. "Okay. Maybe I was really jealous."

"I knew it. You can't hide anything from me." Huntress stood and crossed her arms over her chest. She licked her lips as she thought. "I don't understand people. Hell, I never understood Nightwing. I could never forgive someone after he put me through a situation like that." Her cape caught a breeze and began flapping in the air.

"They're lost. Batman and Gotham did quite the number on all three of those kids."

"Perhaps, but it's still no excuse. There are rules, Cardinal dating rules, like don't sleep with your ex's father, even if the connection isn't biological."

"Good to know." The Question dusted off his trench coat. "You told Batman that you weren't patrolling tonight," he whispered as his featureless face tilted slightly. "And I do remember promising you great birthday sex."

Huntress tugged on his tie and gently kissed the mask that hid his real appearance. Despite the material, she could still feel his hot breath on her skin when she pulled her mouth away from his.

"Don't ever forgive me if I hurt you like she hurt Dick," she said with her forehead pressed to Q's.

"You won't."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do." His gloved hand traced her jaw line. "Let's go. We still have forty-seven minutes before your birthday is over."

She smiled. "What will we do with the other forty-three?"

The Question chuckled. "You're not that cute, you know."

"And yet you keep coming back for more."


End file.
